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Brazilian Duck
The Brazilian Duck or Brazilian Teal (Amazonetta brasiliensis) is the only duck in the genus Amazonetta. It was formerly considered a "perching duck", but more recent analyses indicate that it belongs to a clade of South American dabbling ducks which also includes the Crested Duck, the Bronze-winged Duck, and possibly the steamer ducks .
The ducks are light brown in colour. Drakes distinguish themselves from females in having red beaks and legs, and in having a distinctive pale grey area on the side of its head and neck. The colour of these limbs is much duller in females.
Brazilian ducks live in pairs or in small groups of up to twenty birds. Both parents look after their hatchlings. They eat seeds, fruits, roots and insect, while ducklings eat only insects.
They can be found throughout eastern South America, from Uruguay, to northern and eastern Argentina, Paraguay,central Venezuela, Brazil, northeastern Peru, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, eastern Bolivia, and eastern Colombia. Their preferred habitat is a body of freshwater away from the coast with dense vegetation nearby. There are two sub-species
A. brasiliensis brasiliensis, the nominate race, located in Brazil, Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, central Venezuela, eastern Colombia, northeastern Peru.
A. brasiliensis ipecutiri located in Brazil, Northern Argentina, eastern Bolivia, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
They are plentiful and are listed as Least Concern.
References
Clements, James, (2007) The Clements Checklist of the Birds of the World, Cornell University Press, Ithaca
IUCN (2009) BirdLife International Downloaded on 08 Jan 2009
Johnson, Kevin P. & Sorenson, Michael D. (1999): Phylogeny and biogeography of dabbling ducks (genus Anas): a comparison of molecular and morphological evidence. Auk 116(3): 792805. PDF fulltext
External links
Short description and pictures
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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Brazilian Duck
